COBB – Hard work, concern for the community and generosity marked the life of one of Lake County's notable citizens who died earlier this year.

Donald Emerson died April 19 at age 82.

Emerson was an active member of the community. Aside from being a family man, he was interested in banking, politics and community improvement.

“He was a very generous man,” said his longtime friend, Bill Brunetti. “It was his nature. He knew that involvement in the community, especially a small community, would be good for business. Take something out, give something back – that is the kind of person he was.”

Emerson was from San Francisco and had visited his family's Forest Lake Resort in Cobb every summer since boyhood, according to his family.

When he was 21, he and his wife, Dorothy, bought the resort from their other family members and operated it until 1963, said their daughter, Kathie Keefer. The Emersons lived on Cobb Mountain at the resort ever since.

Keefer said her father was president of the Lake County Chamber of Commerce for two terms, then of the Redwood Empire Association for two terms and was a member of the Lake County Board of Trade between 1951 and 1961.

In 1964, Lake County welcomed its first radio station, of which Emerson had co-ownership, Keefer said. It was then KBLC but is now known as KXBX.

The Lake County Board of Supervisors selected him for the Airport Advisory Committee in 1964, which he served on until 1967, according to his daughter.

Emerson also was a pilot – a volunteer beach craft bonanza pilot – and his daughter said he flew friends Congressman Don Clausen and his wife, Ollie, around to events sometimes.

He had always been interested in politics and was an active Republican. He and Dorothy went to presidential inaugurals with the Clausens and he served as chairman on the committee for Gov. Knight’s campaign, Keefer said.

Emerson also served on the Board of Directors of Westamerica Bank, was a board member of the Bank of Lake County for 35 years, was a founding charter member of the Cobb Mountain Lion’s Club and board member for Lakeside Hospital, according to his daughter.

As member of the Lake County Building Committee, he helped build the county courthouse, along with the agriculture building and south shore county offices. Also, in cooperation with the Hoberg family, he built what is now known as the Rob Roy Golf Club, which is where his memorial service was held in April, Keefer said.

“For the past 60 years my parents have devoted their lives to the improvement of Lake County,” said Keefer.

Devotion is one thing, bravery is another. Emerson was a volunteer firefighter for the Middletown-Cobb Fire Department for 34 years, and served as a commissioner for the now South Lake Fire Protection District, then the Middletown Fire Protection District, for 20 years, 10 of which he spent as chairman of the board, his daughter recounted.

“They were always doing something that saved lives and homes,” she said. “He came home with poison oak a lot from it being in the smoke.”

In the midst of those years of work and activity, Emerson fought his own battles.

The most recent was his bout with leukemia. His daughter said he was diagnosed with the disease about two years ago. He also survived for a decade following a Kausch-Whipple procedure, used to treat tumors around the pancreas.

Keefer described her father as a real trooper.

Brunetti said his biggest affiliation with Emerson was through the Republican Party and politics. “But he was more than that,” said Brunetti.

They met after Brunetti opened up Bruno’s Foods in 1983. Emerson, as a customer, walked up and introduced himself, Brunetti remembered.

He, along with Emerson, became affiliated with the Bank of Lake County and Westamerica Bank as well. They also got together and worked on projects like the development of the Cobb Mountain area.

“He was an interesting man, very successful,” said Brunetti. “Cobb was part of our marketing area. After I got to know Don, I found out he’s a fountain of knowledge and history of Lake County.”

Aside from being a fountain of knowledge, he also was caring man. Brunetti recalled that Emerson would read the newspaper and hear about someone who needed help, and then he would donate anonymously to help them.

In recognition for this quality, Emerson was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award in the 2008 Lake County Stars Awards ceremony.

“He has always been involved in Lake County, much of the time I didn’t pay attention to this stuff,” Keefer said.

“The last two years – when we knew he was so sick – we had all had special time with him for our whole family. I don’t think anyone has regrets, we all helped our mother and all had conversations. It was a hard two years. He was just a trooper and kept going,” she said.

Throughout her father’s life, she and her siblings attributed his longevity to the excellent care he received from their mother. Dorothy still lives at their home in Forest Lake Resort up on Cobb, where many family reunions were held.

Dorothy’s birthday is in August, which also was the perfect excuse for a reunion each year, said Keefer. Her father always looked forward to seeing everybody and it was important to both him and Dorothy that the family get together to stay close.

“These last few years he rented a huge waterfall bouncer for the kids,” said Keefer. “It was about 20 feet tall.”

She says he was always doing things for the kids, like playing puppeteer and dressing up as Santa Claus each year during Christmas time.

“Sometimes people would borrow him to visit their children. And, he’d always manage to pull quarters out of their ears,” she said.

“You couldn’t find anybody that had something bad to say about Don Emerson,” said Brunetti. “He was a consummate gentleman.”

In addition to his wife, Dorothy, and daughter Kathie Keefer, Emerson is survived by his son, Jon, and daughter, Karen Ogando.

Memorial donations may be made to Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Loch Lomond and Cobb Mountain Lions Club Emerson Family Scholarship Fund.

 

E-mail Tera deVroede at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf .